DARREN BENT has always had a decent shot on him...and now he's put West Ham back in the First Division firing line.

The Ipswich striker felt the long arm of the law last week when he was collared for allegedly firing an air-gun at a young kid in a playground.

Bent will learn his fate next month, but West Ham won't have to wait anywhere near as long before finding out whether they are shooting stars with Manchester United or Millwall next season.

In a little over 48 hours, Hammers manager Alan Pardew will send his troops on one almighty mission aimed at consigning the carrot-crunchers to another season in the First Division.

Ipswich will travel down the A12 on their tractors on Tuesday night carrying a slender one-goal advantage and craving a return to the big time after Bent's second-half strike.

The Ipswich hit-man had already found the target 15 times in the league and he pulled the trigger again to pistol-whip West Ham's Premiership pretensions.

It was fitting, too, that Jermaine Wright, comfortably the best player on the park, should play a part in what could yet turn out to be the decisive strike.

His dip of the shoulders left West Ham treading water and there was only one outcome after Richard Naylor's rocket rebounded off the bar.

The fact Bent was waiting at the back stick to nod the ball in had nothing to do with it. Rather, it was the presence of recalled Tomas Repka that left the Hammers staring down the barrel of Bent's loaded gun.

Returning to the side after a four-game lay-off, Repka is just about everything you don't want from a defender. He's unathletic, awkward and awful. He set the tone with an air kick in the seventh minute, was nut-megged by Wright straight after the break...and then mugged for the winner.

Yet just moments before he scored, Bent was about to be hauled off by Ipswich boss Joe Royle.

Said Royle: "He's a Johnny-on-the-spot kind of player and can get you a goal at a moment's notice.

"But he's a lucky boy. I was about to bring him off because he's had better days than this.

"He wasn't affected by the occasion but he's had a bit of ribbing from the other lads about the incident in midweek."

Bent said he was unaware he was about to be substituted shortly before putting Ipswich in pole position with the only goal of this action-packed first leg.

He said: "I could see someone warming up but I just tried to concentrate and keep going.

"The gaffer showed faith in me today and I'm glad I've repaid him with a goal."

He was certainly fired up here but, no matter what the outcome, there will be plenty of tension and trauma on Tuesday night...not to mention the Sky TV-inspired tears.

Ipswich were bottom of the table back in September, but now they have adjusted their sights slightly higher.

Royle added: "I'd have settled for the position we are in now. We were going nowhere fast back then but now we have a shot at the Premiership.

"It won't be easy but we look a lot more settled at the back than we have been in recent weeks. It's going to be another tight game at West Ham."

Ipswich midfielder Jim Magilton scored a hat-trick against Bolton at the semi-final stage the last time Ipswich won promotion to the Premiership four years ago and he insisted the Tractor Boys were good value for their victory.

Magilton said: "We carried a threat today and deserved a goal but we're cautious and we know what will come at us on Tuesday night. We're only halfway there."

Hammers boss Pardew clearly fancies his chances back at Upton Park but, the way Hammers shaped up here, they looked like they wanted to get the job done first time round.

Portman Road resembled a rifle range in the first half as both teams tried to press home their Premiership credentials and book a place in Cardiff 90 minutes ahead of schedule.

Unfortunately for the Hammers, Bobby Zamora blew up. It was his big chance to shine but he forgot the shooting boots that once blasted Brighton through the Nationwide Leagues.

There will be more than 34,000 roaring on the Hammers on Tuesday night, but Ipswich have seen it all before. They have already turned West Ham over in their own backyard this season

But Pardew maintains they will power past their play-off rivals. "Ipswich are favourites now but Upton Park will be jumping on Tuesday night and we all know what we have to do to go through," he said.

"We will play the second leg with a lot of urgency and they will come to protect their lead. I'm under no illusions about the size of the task ahead of us, but let's see if they can cope.

"There was a mood of disappointment in the dressing-room because we know we could have done better up front.

Wonders

"We had a couple of chances in the first half and we just needed to tuck one of them away and it might have been a different game."

It's fair to say Ipswich coped pretty well once they realised Zamora could have remained out there long after the final whistle and he'd still be retrieving balls from the back of the stands.

Maybe West Ham should start thinking about starting some of that shooting practice. After all, it worked wonders for Bent.